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Monday, 8 May 2017

Curries and bugles

Domestic life and natural history.

One of the greatest pleasures in cataloguing the donations
made to the Centre of South Asian Studies at the University of Cambridge is
coming across books which reflect daily routines or general interests, often
annotated.They come from personal
libraries and help to supplement the archive material deposited in the form of
recorded interviews, papers and photographs.

Household management
Special diets
Simple menus and recipes for camp, home and nursery by Lucy Carne. Calcutta: Thacker, Spink and Co., 1902, donated by Miss H.M. Alpin Archive ALP 8 which was referred to in the first blog has a section of foods for children. Very soft and plain food seemed to be in order.

Simple menus and recipes for camp, Archive ALP 8

Archive Misc 87 Curries and bugles

Some books look back with fondness to life in India such as a recipe for Chapattis with butter and marmalade taken from Curries and bugles : a memoir and cookbook of the British Raj written and illustrated by Jennifer Brennan. London : Viking, 1990. Archive Misc 87.

"Whilst
on the subject of stockings, a word of warning may be given on open-work
decoration : mosquitos are very prevalent in most parts of India, and the bite
of a mosquito may mean death. At least four pairs of stays should be taken, as
in hot weather they get sodden and require drying and airing" from The complete Indian housekeeper and cook : giving the duties of mistress and servants, the general management of the house, and practical recipes for cooking in all its branches by F.A. Steel and G. Gardiner. London : William Heinemann, 1907. Archive DV 2, donated by Mrs K.M. Davies. This was originally published in 1888 and a 1921 edition is shelved at Archive (54):64. A 2010 reprint is available from Cambridge core. From the same book:
the list of clothing required for a station in the plains where there is
society is copied above.

Interests of a Brigadier
Brigadier F.R.L. Goadby (1899-1985) donated in May 1981 over 70 books
covering his wide ranging interests in dance, art, architecture, Indian fauna
and flora, and army life. Notes inside some of the books show that he carried
out botanical research on behalf of friends. He served in the Royal Engineers
from 1918 and the Royal Corps of Signals from 1921. In 1926 he joined the
Indian Army serving in the 2/3rd Sikh Pioneers. During 1933 he transferred to
the 1st Battalion, 6th Rajputana Rifles (which uses a bugle horn as its
insignia). Later in his career he served in Southern Command, India; Simla;
Calcutta; Bihar; and Bombay.

The State Library of Victoria has digitized Myauk. The Indian Army ABC
(Archive GB 30) http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/87039
which provides a light hearted view of conditions a decade before Goadby joined
the Sikh Pioneers.

Botanical guides
During his various postings Goadby studied local flora and built up a
collection of botanical guides which include three volumes of B.O.
Coventry, Wild flowers of Kashmir, London : Raithby, Lawrence & Co.
1923-1930 (Archive GB 2a-c), H. Collett, Flora simlensis : a handbook of the
flowering plants of Simla and the neighbourhood, Calcutta : Thacker. 1902
(Archive GB 26), and P.F. Fyson, Flora of the
South Indian Hill stations, Madras : printed by the superintendent, 1932
(Archive GB 25 a&b). Being a private collection means that the books
donated have papers and other items included, a problem for archivists and
librarians. Charles James Bamber, Plants of the Punjab : a descriptive key to
the flora of the Punjab, Lahore : Superintendent Government Printing, 1916
(Archive GB 27) has many pressed plants included. Should they be sent to
a Botany department?